CLP Holdings on Monday said its annual profit increased by about 75 percent to HK$11.7 billion last year, thanks partly to notable improvements in its business in Australia.

The power giant made a profit of around HK$6.6 billion in 2023.

It has declared a fourth interim dividend payment of HK$1.26 per share, bringing the total dividend last year to HK$3.15, up from HK$3.10 in 2023.

The company's CEO Chiang Tung-keung said one of CLP's goals is to phase out its remaining coal-fired electricity assets and look into opportunities to use different technologies in the future.

"We'll start looking at some emerging technologies, including hydrogen, virtual power plants or carbon capture. Those are technologies that we will be interested in," he said.

"If we want to achieve net zero by 2050, apart from doing renewable energy, we expect these kinds of technologies will take a very important part, in particular towards the latter part of the coming decade, when we are closer to 2050."

Chiang added that CLP supports the government in pushing forward innovation and technology development, especially in the Northern Metropolis.

He said his company has reserved sufficient power system capacity to meet the demand for electricity for artificial intelligence and supercomputing centres.